Autopsy confirms teens, father died from gunshots

SAN ANDREAS - An autopsy completed Tuesday confirmed that two teenagers and their father, whose bodies were discovered over the weekend in their Murphys home, died the same way - of gunshot wounds.

Dana M. Nichols

SAN ANDREAS - An autopsy completed Tuesday confirmed that two teenagers and their father, whose bodies were discovered over the weekend in their Murphys home, died the same way - of gunshot wounds.

"Cause of death is all going to be single gunshot wound to the head for everybody," Calaveras County Coroner Kevin Raggio said.

Calaveras County sheriff's investigators on Saturday afternoon found Phillip Marshall, 54, dead on the floor inside the front door of his home in the Forest Meadows subdivision. His children, Macaila Marshall, 14, and Alex Marshall, 17, were on a couch.

Investigators said that evidence at the scene showed that Phillip Marshall shot the two children, probably as they slept, and then turned the gun on himself.

The family dog, also dead from a gunshot, was found in a bedroom.

Investigators found a Glock 9 mm handgun in the home and determined it was the weapon used.

The killings have thrown the tight-knit communities along Highway 4 into a period of intense grieving. Macaila and Alex had attended Bret Harte Union High in Angels Camp. A candlelight vigil in their memory is scheduled on the campus at 7 p.m. today.

The children's mother, Sean Marshall, was traveling on business in Turkey at the time of the killings. Raggio said she is expected to arrive in the area soon to claim the remains and make funeral arrangements.

Investigators say they did not find any evidence at the scene to indicate what motivated Phillip Marshall to kill his children.

Crime reports filed in 2008, however, indicate conflict between Marshall and his wife. Phillip Marshall was jailed briefly on suspicion of slapping Sean Marshall's sister, although he was not prosecuted.